Testosterone, that most male of hormones, takes a dive after a man becomes a parent. And the more he gets involved in caring for his children ”” changing diapers, jiggling the boy or girl on his knee, reading “Goodnight Moon” for the umpteenth time ”” the lower his testosterone drops.
So says the first large study measuring testosterone in men when they were single and childless and several years after they had children. Experts say the research has implications for understanding the biology of fatherhood, hormone roles in men and even health issues like prostate cancer.
“The real take-home message,” said Peter Ellison, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard who was not involved in the study, is that “male parental care is important. It’s important enough that it’s actually shaped the physiology of men.”
This reminds me of the old joke:
Did you hear they found a food that diminishes a woman’s libido 90%?
Wedding Cake.
I found this line very interesting: It also suggests that men’s behavior can affect hormonal signals their bodies send, not just that hormones influence behavior.
Do you suppose God made us not to be so… libidinous (?), so that we’d be more inclined to domesticity than being on the prowl?
#2, yeah that is interesting. In fact a study I read about awhile back showed that confident body language (such as spreading your arms out wide on a desk for a few minutes) boosts testosterone levels in men and women, and lowers cortisol (stress hormone) levels. Maybe all these dads need to try that!
All the T.V. commercials tell me that the cause of all of men’s problems “could be ‘low T’.”
This study lends weight to the argument that men will be happiest, and will fulfill their sexual identities fullest, by avoiding marriage and childrearing in order to maintain a “High T” state.
Where can I find a church that teaches that?